September 4, 2025 • 19 mins
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Hunting; Life Long Hunter Proffessional Hunter and Guide
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Have a Blessed Day
Decorated Combat VeteranCorporate; U.S. Marine Corps Urban Warfare Instrictor;
S.R.T. Commander Active Shooter Response Team
Law Enforcement Los Angeles Police (L.A.P.D.) Police Officer / Fugitive Recovery
F.B.I. Instructor N.R.A Instructor
Competition Shooter; Multi Time State Rifle Pistol Champion
Hunting; Life Long Hunter Proffessional Hunter and Guide
Private Security Contractor; Several Agencies, Current.
GOD Provides / JESUS Saves
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/gunfighter-life-survival-guns-tactical-hunting--4187306/support.
Have a Blessed Day
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Tracking, stalking, it's my favorite way to hunt. Charismatic megafauna,
big game, it's my favorite way to hunt. What are
some good tools for the job. What are some good
rifles for this top tracking and stalking rifles us we're
going to talk about today. If that interests you, stay
(00:23):
tuned to Gunfighter Life, the podcast where we talk about guns,
gum fighting, tactics, ballistics, the Right Way, with God All
Mighty at the center, Judeo Christian values and real world
firsthand experience. I am blessed to serve you as host
bullet points for the bio and the show notes. But
(00:43):
I've been blessed to hunt all over this beautiful country,
from the East coast to the west coast, from the
southeast to Alaska to my favorite rugged Inner Mountain West,
Greater Yellowstone ecosystem, Idaho. I am in Montana, and I
love track. I've done all kinds of hunting. There is
a time and a place for different kinds of hunting,
but I much prefer tracking, stalking to stand hunting, saddle hunting,
(01:11):
sitting in a tree, or just sitting in a blind
and just sitting there. It's not my favorite. I did
it growing up that's just what we did. It's just
we thought that's just how you hunted deer, or how
you had to hunt deer. Even that's not trick because
a lot of times growing up hunting, I would hunt
from a canoe, which I preferred. But uh yeah, there's
a lot of ways to hunt charismatic megaphone deer, elk, antelope,
(01:35):
things like that, but my favorite is stalking and or
tracking and throw in there still hunting. You might think, well,
couldn't you just use any rifle for this that's suitable
for deer, And the answer is, of course, yes, right,
(01:56):
you can do it with a bow. I got my
elk last year in stack hunting with a shotgun, so
it doesn't even have to be a rifle for talking rifles.
Some lend themselves way more than others to this form
of hunting. And I'm here to tell you that, sadly,
the vast majority of new rifles on the American market
(02:19):
today are not good for this. They are subpart they
are a poor poor choice. Why because most rifles on
the American market today we've had this trend for the
past ten years for what I would call a belly
gun or a bench rested gun, a gun that's meant
to be shot off a bench or a bipod or
from the prone position on your belly, with a big, huge,
(02:43):
giant scope because people are very concerned about shooting small groups.
If a steady rest off a bench generally means they're
going to have a big scope, which means, even if
the gun's not heavy, the gun is generally top heavy.
Anything more than usually a four power scope via a
very very slim like two to seven are a very
very slim three to nine. Anything bigger than that and
(03:04):
it starts getting pretty obese and unwieldy. And that's the
vast majority of rifles on the market everybody wants. You know,
let me put it this way, you are almost certainly
hurting yourself by having any scope higher than a ten
power in this kind of hunting and any kind of terrain.
I don't care if it's the wide open of the Southwest,
(03:27):
which I've been blessed to live in and hunt in
some of the wide open deserts that we have, to
the great plane ecosystems, you're just hurting yourself if you're
doing this kind of hunting with that kind of rifle.
Those rifles don't lend themselves to that. And'll say, if
the gum was designed to be shot off a bench,
just throw it out. If it's got a scope higher
(03:47):
than ten power, throw it out. If it's got a big,
giant high optics mount, like where the optic is far
above the bore line, throw it out. In my experience,
the vast, vast majority of shots that you're gonna take
tracking and stalking are from a standing position. You standing
on your legs, standing up, no support, no shooting sticks,
(04:10):
no I've and I've guided, and I've used those people
that really needed them, but just standing, just standing, which
means you need to do the majority of your practice
where standing shooting standing, throwing the gun up and getting
a quick snapshot from the standing where the vast majority
of your shots are gonna come from standing. And then
(04:31):
also the other classic shooting positions that you should train
in standing, kneeling, sitting, and prone. And by prone, I
don't mean with a bipod or a tripod. You're generally
not gonna have time for that. I mean maybe off
your pack, but you should be good at shooting prone
without any rest, without your gun touching the ground at all,
just you holding the gun in the prone. There are
(04:53):
some other improvised shooting positions, but I would say probably
seventy percent or more standing shots. And then you you
might get some kneeling, you might get some sitting, you
might get somewhere you're shooting braced off a tree, but
those are opportunistic. You generally want to be good shooting
from the standing and your rifle should be designed accordingly
(05:15):
so that it is good from being shot off the
standing position without support, and that's really hard to do
on today's American market. Now you go back, you know
to rifles that are fathers in four and grandfather's hunted with.
That's the majority of the rifles, but sadly the majority
of the rifles that they weren't designed for that, they
(05:37):
just weren't. So I guess I just mentioned fathers and forefathers.
Let us go to historically what have been seen as
some great tracking and stalking rifles here in America. Obviously
Africa is different. I've never hunted Africa, I don't know.
But in America, the one that comes to mind the
most is the Remington seven sixty or seventy six pump
(06:01):
action fast handling meant to be shot from a standing position,
good iron sights, and if you want to the ability
to mount an optic. These are are kind of worthy
go to deer hunting rifle for people that hunted this
wa even people to hunt from a stand, but most
people that hunted this way, and it's still renowned among
(06:24):
trackers and stalkers. It's a phenomenal rifle. It's one of
the reasons why I don't generally care for lever actions.
When somebody I'm a practical guy when it comes to
I'm picking out a gun. Generally I'm like, okay, this gun,
but it's there something that does that better. And when
I look at most lever actions, I'm like, okay, But
then I'm stuck to a round a bullet. Maybe that
(06:45):
will matter, maybe it won't. I'm not the guy that
tells you got to have a bullet with a BC
of over you know, zero point five. That's not me.
But I'm not going to relegate myself to eighteen seventies
eighteen seventies technology if I don't have to. But I
look at a lever action and I'm like, why wouldn't
I just get a pump action Remington seven sixty because
(07:05):
thirty out six three away calibers, thirty five whaling calibers,
pump's going to be faster and easier for follow up shots,
and then a lever action. A lever action is not slow,
but it's not as fast as a pump, and I
can get a full powered rifle cartridge. Despite what you
may think, the seven sixty seventy six hundreds are known
for being very accurate. Now that they may not be
a quarter mla off a rest accurate, but who cares.
(07:27):
You're not going to shoot it off a rest unless
you're sighting it in, so that doesn't really matter. They're
a handy weight, they're very ergonomic. They generally point well
and shoot well. That's historically one of the good rifles
for this another historic one, although I just dogged on
level actions for me in the Northeast, especially a marl
(07:48):
In three thirty six or a Winchester Model ninety four.
You can kind of duke it out which one of
those you like or don't like. I think the ninety
four is a little bit faster handling, a little bit
swelter and sleeker, which is good when you're crawling through
brushing all kinds of stuff like that, But the three
thirty six does better with optics. It's just has a
flat upper and it's kind of a monolithic side ejected receiver,
(08:12):
which is just way better for mounting optics. I know
it can be done on a ninety four, but just
the three thirty six lens itself better to that, though
it's a little bit less I would say sleek than
the ninety four. So either one of those. Though those
historically good for tracking, good for stalking out the one
hundred and fifty two hundred yards, they're fine in many places,
(08:32):
especially east of the Mississippi. If you're going to do this,
who cares about out past two hundred yards? You're probably
many people that have hunted eas of the Mississippi have
never shot into your past two hundred yards. And if
you think you have, did you actually range it or
actually measure it? Because a lot of people wig overestimate range.
So the vast majority of people will just ease of
the Mississippi. You're not shooting past that, so it doesn't matter,
(08:54):
and then spot and stalk and still hunting. In general,
I'm a big fan of the max point blank rain
shooting because it's way more likely that you're gonna get
a short shot opportunity, a fast shot from the standing.
Then you're gonna be sitting there with the rest and
ranging and dialing. You're just probably not gonna be time
for that. You're not gonna do that. And if you're
(09:15):
stalking and you have to, let's say you shoot the
elk and you have to get it anyway, why would
I shoot it from five hundred when I could just
walk up with three hundred and shoot it. If you're
good at stalking and tracking, you should unless there's some
weird thing with terrain or it's about to get dark
or something, you should be able to get within three
football fields of an animal without it knowing you're there.
(09:35):
So historically those were some really good ones. Not the
only ones, right. I've never actually seen anybody hunt with these,
but I think in days of your the Savage ninety
nines were pretty popular when a lot of people hunted
this way and tracked and stalked. It's like no experience
with those other than maybe playing with them at a
gun store. Now, let's talk about some of the best
ones on the market today. The Ruger Scout rifle. Now,
(10:01):
I like the Ruger because it's controlled round feed, it's rugged,
it's reliable. I live in Griz country. There are wolves
and mountain lions and things like that. That's an added bonus.
But I just like the positive feed and extraction. You've
ever had the rim break off the back of a
cartridge or extractor on a bolt snap, which I have.
(10:22):
You know that can happen on a push feed system.
I've never heard of it happening on a controlled round
feed like a Winchester Model seventy system, which would be
the same system in the Ruger Scout rifle. Also, it's
light and handy, six point something pounds seven point something pounds.
It's a light in handing, and it's meant to be
shot from the standing, not from a prone position. It
comes with good backup iron sights. Now you could just
(10:43):
run it with the irons, but if you want an
optic like uh not that long ago? Was it? Two
years ago? I was hunting some pretty rugged country and
Hell's Canyon. This is not the first time, but a
pretty good illustration. I was hiking Hell's Canyon, fell a lot,
got hung up in something, and I was using a
good optic and good scope mounts but my Scoate Mount
came blues. Well, you know I have iron sights on
(11:05):
that gun, so I didn't have to call it quits.
I knew that my iron sights were still good on there.
It's controlled around feed. It's available and stainless steel. If
you can get stainless, almost always get stainless unless you
have a certain finish of mind, like nitride. But stainless
steel light, handy, fast handling. It's a bolt action, which
I like, especially out west where I might get a
(11:26):
longer shot. I've taken a few deer with the Ruger
Scout rifle and I really like it, white tail, mule deer.
It's it's a good rifle for this. You know, hunting
out in the rain, which rain, you know, a bunch
of wet leaves. It's some of the best stalking still
hunting environment you can have in the rain, in real
(11:49):
fresh snow. Great for this. Just the ruggedness of a
bolt action. You get some ice in there. You know,
it gets rained on all day. It's stainless steel, it's rugged,
really concerned about it. I like the Ruger Scout rifle
for this. I'll also throw in the Stire. The Stire
Scout rifle is a push feed, but it's also very light,
(12:12):
fast handling, and the thing that has above the Ruger
is it comes to more calibers. I think it's available
in seven millimeters oh eight. It's also available in two
forty three, which is awesome. I wish they made a
Ruger Scout rifle in two forty three. I should mention
you know the the Ruger scout rifle generally is in
three oh eight and most Scout rifles will be in
three oh eight and to go to scout rifle caliber
and three o eight is a fantastic caliber for this,
(12:33):
as is thirty all to six. The next one, i'll
mention a Winchester Model seventy featherweight. Save the weight, you
should probably going to be walking a lot. But this
is kind of the original, like premiere one of this,
and they are phenomenal. They're also quite expensive and collectible.
But a pre sixty four Winchester Model seventy featherweight still
(12:56):
has the iron sights on it for reasons I already mentioned. Sleek,
felt as fast handling and just smooth as butter with
the action. Mine is crazy accurate. It's still got the
original barrel I don't plan on really modifying anything the
barrel or anything on it. It's a phenomenal rifle because
it is such a rarity to have one in such
good condition, and it's really nice. I didn't get it
(13:18):
as a collectible. I got it as a hunter. But
since I have the Ruger Scout, if it's really nasty,
nasty weather, I'm probably taking the Ruger Scout because I
would feel less bad about ruining it than ruining the
Pre sixty four Winchester Model seventy, which is blued steel,
which that's just what they had back then, right we're
talking in the thirties, forties, fifties. Blue steel is what
was the standard. But a phenomenal rifle, and if I'm
(13:42):
being on, a much slicker, smoother action than the Ruder.
But one of those pre sixty fours and thirty all
six three away two forty three, they're a good choice
for a tracking stalking rifle. Another one I'm gonna mention,
maybe not as old, but the Remington. Let's call them
(14:04):
the smaller both action rifles. So I'm gonna say the
Model seven, not the seven hundred, but the Model seven,
which is a smaller version of the seven hundred phenomenal
for this. The six hundred, the six sixty, and the
six seventy three kind of the mohawk style of rifle.
They kind of have a shot some of them have
a shotgun rib on the top. Very small, handy, but
(14:27):
very powerful rifles. So these also would be very good.
Now they are push feed, which I don't like as much.
But you know, if you're not gonna be hunting in
a bunch of ice or with a bunch of animals
that want to kill you and eat you, then you
might not care about the push feed, So they're good again.
They the six hundred to six sixty, the six seventy
three you're not hunting really nasty conditions where might snap
(14:50):
off the back of a case or something like that.
Nothing wrong with those. They're great rifles, and they were
very much designed for this kind of tracking, stalking closer
in style of hunting. Those six hundred and sixty sixties,
six seventy threes. They were available in some odd calibers
(15:14):
that you might not want to get it in unless
you're an avid reloader, but they were also available in
like three zero eight. I believe they were only ever
in short actions unlike the Model seventies, you're not gonna
get them in like a thirty oh six or standard
length cartridge. Now, another one that you may not think
of is the Ruger Mini thirty. Ruger Mini thirty is
(15:36):
a great gun. I actually used the Mini fourteen in
police work for a time. They're good. I like them.
I'm not gonna say they're better than an Air fifteen,
but I'm gonna say in a lot of situations are
just as good. But this is the Mini thirty. The
Mini thirty is in seven sixty two by thirty nine. Now,
the vast majority of seven sixty two by thirty nine
is not suitable for this task. Most of its full
(15:59):
metal jacket or a hollow point in name only, like
it has a hollow point, but it was not designed
for terminal performance. It's like a wolf for a tool
of hollow point. I'm not saying that's a good choice,
but really good premium handloaded or there's quite a few
good factory loads meant for hunting bigger game, like meant
for hunting controlled expansion in seven sixty two by thirty nine.
(16:22):
So with some of that ammunition in a Mini thirty,
Mini thirty not a bad handling little car being and
it's semi automatic, so you might want a semi auto
for this. If you do, this is a good choice
on like a lot of things in seven sixty two
by thirty nine, And actually you can mount a good
optic and in fact they come with scope mounts, so
(16:44):
that's a big deal. They come with scope mounts, so
you can get a good LPVO and mount it right
on the top of that gun or red dot if
you want. I would put it in the same vein
as like the thirty thirty level actions I talked about
earlier in ninety four thirty six inside of two hundred yards,
(17:04):
it'll do fine. Another one I'm gonna mention because I
like Savage and a lot of their guns have gone
this way where they don't don't have iron sights, where
they're just meant to be shot off a Benchally make
a lot of like target rifles, but they also make
a model called the hog Hunter. Although it's not stainless steel,
it pretty much checks all the other boxes. It's got
(17:26):
iron sights, it's in three h eight possibly some other calibers,
but a good potent cartridge, a good affordable rifle that's
meant to be shot off the shoulder. So the savage
hog hunter is another one that you might want to
put on your radar. And like most other things in hunting,
(17:47):
the rifle is important, like you should have a good rifle,
But whether it's a Ruger or Winchester or you know,
a savage, that's way less important than the skill of tracking,
the skill of stalking, and the way you do that
is by getting out and actually doing it. So remember
what's actually important and the skill of actually being able
(18:07):
to shoot from the shoulder. Now I grew up competing
in more traditional rifle competitions, I still do them. Where
you shoot in traditional positions standing, kneeling or sitting prone,
and you should know your ethical distance and you should
know how to call shots. I'd say whatever distance you
could put rounds routinely in a paper plate. If you're
(18:32):
talking about a deer sized animal, that's a distance you
should shoot at. And whatever distance that is for you
for standing. If that's one hundred yards for you standing,
that's great. If it's two hundred yards for you standing,
that's great. Well you should know that, but just get
out there and do it. And that is going to
bring us to the tactical verse of the day. I
(18:54):
haven't been doing these on every episode recently, and somebody
called me out on them, and they said they really
missed thee or they miss or really miss they miss
the tactical verse of the day. So you know what
they're right for calling me out on that NIV version
is the Proverbs twelve twenty seven. The lazy do not
roast any game, but the diligent feed on the riches
(19:16):
of the hunt. My commentary get out there, many get
after it. Put some meat on the table. Thanks for listening,
and have a blessed day.
Tracking, stalking, it's my favorite way to hunt. Charismatic megafauna,
big game, it's my favorite way to hunt. What are
some good tools for the job. What are some good
rifles for this top tracking and stalking rifles us we're
going to talk about today. If that interests you, stay
(00:23):
tuned to Gunfighter Life, the podcast where we talk about guns,
gum fighting, tactics, ballistics, the Right Way, with God All
Mighty at the center, Judeo Christian values and real world
firsthand experience. I am blessed to serve you as host
bullet points for the bio and the show notes. But
(00:43):
I've been blessed to hunt all over this beautiful country,
from the East coast to the west coast, from the
southeast to Alaska to my favorite rugged Inner Mountain West,
Greater Yellowstone ecosystem, Idaho. I am in Montana, and I
love track. I've done all kinds of hunting. There is
a time and a place for different kinds of hunting,
but I much prefer tracking, stalking to stand hunting, saddle hunting,
(01:11):
sitting in a tree, or just sitting in a blind
and just sitting there. It's not my favorite. I did
it growing up that's just what we did. It's just
we thought that's just how you hunted deer, or how
you had to hunt deer. Even that's not trick because
a lot of times growing up hunting, I would hunt
from a canoe, which I preferred. But uh yeah, there's
a lot of ways to hunt charismatic megaphone deer, elk, antelope,
(01:35):
things like that, but my favorite is stalking and or
tracking and throw in there still hunting. You might think, well,
couldn't you just use any rifle for this that's suitable
for deer, And the answer is, of course, yes, right,
(01:56):
you can do it with a bow. I got my
elk last year in stack hunting with a shotgun, so
it doesn't even have to be a rifle for talking rifles.
Some lend themselves way more than others to this form
of hunting. And I'm here to tell you that, sadly,
the vast majority of new rifles on the American market
(02:19):
today are not good for this. They are subpart they
are a poor poor choice. Why because most rifles on
the American market today we've had this trend for the
past ten years for what I would call a belly
gun or a bench rested gun, a gun that's meant
to be shot off a bench or a bipod or
from the prone position on your belly, with a big, huge,
(02:43):
giant scope because people are very concerned about shooting small groups.
If a steady rest off a bench generally means they're
going to have a big scope, which means, even if
the gun's not heavy, the gun is generally top heavy.
Anything more than usually a four power scope via a
very very slim like two to seven are a very
very slim three to nine. Anything bigger than that and
(03:04):
it starts getting pretty obese and unwieldy. And that's the
vast majority of rifles on the market everybody wants. You know,
let me put it this way, you are almost certainly
hurting yourself by having any scope higher than a ten
power in this kind of hunting and any kind of terrain.
I don't care if it's the wide open of the Southwest,
(03:27):
which I've been blessed to live in and hunt in
some of the wide open deserts that we have, to
the great plane ecosystems, you're just hurting yourself if you're
doing this kind of hunting with that kind of rifle.
Those rifles don't lend themselves to that. And'll say, if
the gum was designed to be shot off a bench,
just throw it out. If it's got a scope higher
(03:47):
than ten power, throw it out. If it's got a big,
giant high optics mount, like where the optic is far
above the bore line, throw it out. In my experience,
the vast, vast majority of shots that you're gonna take
tracking and stalking are from a standing position. You standing
on your legs, standing up, no support, no shooting sticks,
(04:10):
no I've and I've guided, and I've used those people
that really needed them, but just standing, just standing, which
means you need to do the majority of your practice
where standing shooting standing, throwing the gun up and getting
a quick snapshot from the standing where the vast majority
of your shots are gonna come from standing. And then
(04:31):
also the other classic shooting positions that you should train
in standing, kneeling, sitting, and prone. And by prone, I
don't mean with a bipod or a tripod. You're generally
not gonna have time for that. I mean maybe off
your pack, but you should be good at shooting prone
without any rest, without your gun touching the ground at all,
just you holding the gun in the prone. There are
(04:53):
some other improvised shooting positions, but I would say probably
seventy percent or more standing shots. And then you you
might get some kneeling, you might get some sitting, you
might get somewhere you're shooting braced off a tree, but
those are opportunistic. You generally want to be good shooting
from the standing and your rifle should be designed accordingly
(05:15):
so that it is good from being shot off the
standing position without support, and that's really hard to do
on today's American market. Now you go back, you know
to rifles that are fathers in four and grandfather's hunted with.
That's the majority of the rifles, but sadly the majority
of the rifles that they weren't designed for that, they
(05:37):
just weren't. So I guess I just mentioned fathers and forefathers.
Let us go to historically what have been seen as
some great tracking and stalking rifles here in America. Obviously
Africa is different. I've never hunted Africa, I don't know.
But in America, the one that comes to mind the
most is the Remington seven sixty or seventy six pump
(06:01):
action fast handling meant to be shot from a standing position,
good iron sights, and if you want to the ability
to mount an optic. These are are kind of worthy
go to deer hunting rifle for people that hunted this
wa even people to hunt from a stand, but most
people that hunted this way, and it's still renowned among
(06:24):
trackers and stalkers. It's a phenomenal rifle. It's one of
the reasons why I don't generally care for lever actions.
When somebody I'm a practical guy when it comes to
I'm picking out a gun. Generally I'm like, okay, this gun,
but it's there something that does that better. And when
I look at most lever actions, I'm like, okay, But
then I'm stuck to a round a bullet. Maybe that
(06:45):
will matter, maybe it won't. I'm not the guy that
tells you got to have a bullet with a BC
of over you know, zero point five. That's not me.
But I'm not going to relegate myself to eighteen seventies
eighteen seventies technology if I don't have to. But I
look at a lever action and I'm like, why wouldn't
I just get a pump action Remington seven sixty because
(07:05):
thirty out six three away calibers, thirty five whaling calibers,
pump's going to be faster and easier for follow up shots,
and then a lever action. A lever action is not slow,
but it's not as fast as a pump, and I
can get a full powered rifle cartridge. Despite what you
may think, the seven sixty seventy six hundreds are known
for being very accurate. Now that they may not be
a quarter mla off a rest accurate, but who cares.
(07:27):
You're not going to shoot it off a rest unless
you're sighting it in, so that doesn't really matter. They're
a handy weight, they're very ergonomic. They generally point well
and shoot well. That's historically one of the good rifles
for this another historic one, although I just dogged on
level actions for me in the Northeast, especially a marl
(07:48):
In three thirty six or a Winchester Model ninety four.
You can kind of duke it out which one of
those you like or don't like. I think the ninety
four is a little bit faster handling, a little bit
swelter and sleeker, which is good when you're crawling through
brushing all kinds of stuff like that, But the three
thirty six does better with optics. It's just has a
flat upper and it's kind of a monolithic side ejected receiver,
(08:12):
which is just way better for mounting optics. I know
it can be done on a ninety four, but just
the three thirty six lens itself better to that, though
it's a little bit less I would say sleek than
the ninety four. So either one of those. Though those
historically good for tracking, good for stalking out the one
hundred and fifty two hundred yards, they're fine in many places,
(08:32):
especially east of the Mississippi. If you're going to do this,
who cares about out past two hundred yards? You're probably
many people that have hunted eas of the Mississippi have
never shot into your past two hundred yards. And if
you think you have, did you actually range it or
actually measure it? Because a lot of people wig overestimate range.
So the vast majority of people will just ease of
the Mississippi. You're not shooting past that, so it doesn't matter,
(08:54):
and then spot and stalk and still hunting. In general,
I'm a big fan of the max point blank rain
shooting because it's way more likely that you're gonna get
a short shot opportunity, a fast shot from the standing.
Then you're gonna be sitting there with the rest and
ranging and dialing. You're just probably not gonna be time
for that. You're not gonna do that. And if you're
(09:15):
stalking and you have to, let's say you shoot the
elk and you have to get it anyway, why would
I shoot it from five hundred when I could just
walk up with three hundred and shoot it. If you're
good at stalking and tracking, you should unless there's some
weird thing with terrain or it's about to get dark
or something, you should be able to get within three
football fields of an animal without it knowing you're there.
(09:35):
So historically those were some really good ones. Not the
only ones, right. I've never actually seen anybody hunt with these,
but I think in days of your the Savage ninety
nines were pretty popular when a lot of people hunted
this way and tracked and stalked. It's like no experience
with those other than maybe playing with them at a
gun store. Now, let's talk about some of the best
ones on the market today. The Ruger Scout rifle. Now,
(10:01):
I like the Ruger because it's controlled round feed, it's rugged,
it's reliable. I live in Griz country. There are wolves
and mountain lions and things like that. That's an added bonus.
But I just like the positive feed and extraction. You've
ever had the rim break off the back of a
cartridge or extractor on a bolt snap, which I have.
(10:22):
You know that can happen on a push feed system.
I've never heard of it happening on a controlled round
feed like a Winchester Model seventy system, which would be
the same system in the Ruger Scout rifle. Also, it's
light and handy, six point something pounds seven point something pounds.
It's a light in handing, and it's meant to be
shot from the standing, not from a prone position. It
comes with good backup iron sights. Now you could just
(10:43):
run it with the irons, but if you want an
optic like uh not that long ago? Was it? Two
years ago? I was hunting some pretty rugged country and
Hell's Canyon. This is not the first time, but a
pretty good illustration. I was hiking Hell's Canyon, fell a lot,
got hung up in something, and I was using a
good optic and good scope mounts but my Scoate Mount
came blues. Well, you know I have iron sights on
(11:05):
that gun, so I didn't have to call it quits.
I knew that my iron sights were still good on there.
It's controlled around feed. It's available and stainless steel. If
you can get stainless, almost always get stainless unless you
have a certain finish of mind, like nitride. But stainless
steel light, handy, fast handling. It's a bolt action, which
I like, especially out west where I might get a
(11:26):
longer shot. I've taken a few deer with the Ruger
Scout rifle and I really like it, white tail, mule deer.
It's it's a good rifle for this. You know, hunting
out in the rain, which rain, you know, a bunch
of wet leaves. It's some of the best stalking still
hunting environment you can have in the rain, in real
(11:49):
fresh snow. Great for this. Just the ruggedness of a
bolt action. You get some ice in there. You know,
it gets rained on all day. It's stainless steel, it's rugged,
really concerned about it. I like the Ruger Scout rifle
for this. I'll also throw in the Stire. The Stire
Scout rifle is a push feed, but it's also very light,
(12:12):
fast handling, and the thing that has above the Ruger
is it comes to more calibers. I think it's available
in seven millimeters oh eight. It's also available in two
forty three, which is awesome. I wish they made a
Ruger Scout rifle in two forty three. I should mention
you know the the Ruger scout rifle generally is in
three oh eight and most Scout rifles will be in
three oh eight and to go to scout rifle caliber
and three o eight is a fantastic caliber for this,
(12:33):
as is thirty all to six. The next one, i'll
mention a Winchester Model seventy featherweight. Save the weight, you
should probably going to be walking a lot. But this
is kind of the original, like premiere one of this,
and they are phenomenal. They're also quite expensive and collectible.
But a pre sixty four Winchester Model seventy featherweight still
(12:56):
has the iron sights on it for reasons I already mentioned. Sleek,
felt as fast handling and just smooth as butter with
the action. Mine is crazy accurate. It's still got the
original barrel I don't plan on really modifying anything the
barrel or anything on it. It's a phenomenal rifle because
it is such a rarity to have one in such
good condition, and it's really nice. I didn't get it
(13:18):
as a collectible. I got it as a hunter. But
since I have the Ruger Scout, if it's really nasty,
nasty weather, I'm probably taking the Ruger Scout because I
would feel less bad about ruining it than ruining the
Pre sixty four Winchester Model seventy, which is blued steel,
which that's just what they had back then, right we're
talking in the thirties, forties, fifties. Blue steel is what
was the standard. But a phenomenal rifle, and if I'm
(13:42):
being on, a much slicker, smoother action than the Ruder.
But one of those pre sixty fours and thirty all
six three away two forty three, they're a good choice
for a tracking stalking rifle. Another one I'm gonna mention,
maybe not as old, but the Remington. Let's call them
(14:04):
the smaller both action rifles. So I'm gonna say the
Model seven, not the seven hundred, but the Model seven,
which is a smaller version of the seven hundred phenomenal
for this. The six hundred, the six sixty, and the
six seventy three kind of the mohawk style of rifle.
They kind of have a shot some of them have
a shotgun rib on the top. Very small, handy, but
(14:27):
very powerful rifles. So these also would be very good.
Now they are push feed, which I don't like as much.
But you know, if you're not gonna be hunting in
a bunch of ice or with a bunch of animals
that want to kill you and eat you, then you
might not care about the push feed, So they're good again.
They the six hundred to six sixty, the six seventy
three you're not hunting really nasty conditions where might snap
(14:50):
off the back of a case or something like that.
Nothing wrong with those. They're great rifles, and they were
very much designed for this kind of tracking, stalking closer
in style of hunting. Those six hundred and sixty sixties,
six seventy threes. They were available in some odd calibers
(15:14):
that you might not want to get it in unless
you're an avid reloader, but they were also available in
like three zero eight. I believe they were only ever
in short actions unlike the Model seventies, you're not gonna
get them in like a thirty oh six or standard
length cartridge. Now, another one that you may not think
of is the Ruger Mini thirty. Ruger Mini thirty is
(15:36):
a great gun. I actually used the Mini fourteen in
police work for a time. They're good. I like them.
I'm not gonna say they're better than an Air fifteen,
but I'm gonna say in a lot of situations are
just as good. But this is the Mini thirty. The
Mini thirty is in seven sixty two by thirty nine. Now,
the vast majority of seven sixty two by thirty nine
is not suitable for this task. Most of its full
(15:59):
metal jacket or a hollow point in name only, like
it has a hollow point, but it was not designed
for terminal performance. It's like a wolf for a tool
of hollow point. I'm not saying that's a good choice,
but really good premium handloaded or there's quite a few
good factory loads meant for hunting bigger game, like meant
for hunting controlled expansion in seven sixty two by thirty nine.
(16:22):
So with some of that ammunition in a Mini thirty,
Mini thirty not a bad handling little car being and
it's semi automatic, so you might want a semi auto
for this. If you do, this is a good choice
on like a lot of things in seven sixty two
by thirty nine, And actually you can mount a good
optic and in fact they come with scope mounts, so
(16:44):
that's a big deal. They come with scope mounts, so
you can get a good LPVO and mount it right
on the top of that gun or red dot if
you want. I would put it in the same vein
as like the thirty thirty level actions I talked about
earlier in ninety four thirty six inside of two hundred yards,
(17:04):
it'll do fine. Another one I'm gonna mention because I
like Savage and a lot of their guns have gone
this way where they don't don't have iron sights, where
they're just meant to be shot off a Benchally make
a lot of like target rifles, but they also make
a model called the hog Hunter. Although it's not stainless steel,
it pretty much checks all the other boxes. It's got
(17:26):
iron sights, it's in three h eight possibly some other calibers,
but a good potent cartridge, a good affordable rifle that's
meant to be shot off the shoulder. So the savage
hog hunter is another one that you might want to
put on your radar. And like most other things in hunting,
(17:47):
the rifle is important, like you should have a good rifle,
But whether it's a Ruger or Winchester or you know,
a savage, that's way less important than the skill of tracking,
the skill of stalking, and the way you do that
is by getting out and actually doing it. So remember
what's actually important and the skill of actually being able
(18:07):
to shoot from the shoulder. Now I grew up competing
in more traditional rifle competitions, I still do them. Where
you shoot in traditional positions standing, kneeling or sitting prone,
and you should know your ethical distance and you should
know how to call shots. I'd say whatever distance you
could put rounds routinely in a paper plate. If you're
(18:32):
talking about a deer sized animal, that's a distance you
should shoot at. And whatever distance that is for you
for standing. If that's one hundred yards for you standing,
that's great. If it's two hundred yards for you standing,
that's great. Well you should know that, but just get
out there and do it. And that is going to
bring us to the tactical verse of the day. I
(18:54):
haven't been doing these on every episode recently, and somebody
called me out on them, and they said they really
missed thee or they miss or really miss they miss
the tactical verse of the day. So you know what
they're right for calling me out on that NIV version
is the Proverbs twelve twenty seven. The lazy do not
roast any game, but the diligent feed on the riches
(19:16):
of the hunt. My commentary get out there, many get
after it. Put some meat on the table. Thanks for listening,
and have a blessed day.
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